Charitable projects - education

The Responsible Travellers is a non-commercial organisation which donates all profits from it's travel operations to charitable projects in Nepal. We support both areas of education and conservation. Please read below to find out more about our work.

The facts of life in Nepal ...

About CHANCE

Community project fund

The community project fund makes capital investments into the education infrastructure. This may be the building of a school, or provision of equipment etc. Last year one of our projects was to build a school in the Terai region. The children pictured opposite have now swapped their scythe for a writing pen and they join the 205 pupils at the newly built school. CHANCE are also funding teacher training programmes. Please click on the link below to read more detail on the CHANCE charity website project page. All funds generated by The Responsible Travellers will be donated to this general community project fund.

Sponsorship programme

CHANCE also operates a sponsorship programme for people who specifically want to help an individual family and develop a direct relationship. The cost of this programme to sponsor a child is £12 per month. However, we also have people who group together to share the cost. This covers schooling, clothing, stationary & uniforms, transportation to school and any support the family needs with general welfare. More details can be found on the CHANCE charity web site sponsorship page.

Charitable projects - conservation

Biogas

We are also passionate about the environment here at The Responsible Travellers, , and as such we also invest profits into conservation projects.

Our main project at the moment is investing in Biogas, a fantastic renewable energy resource. Biogas is a bi-product from the decomposition of animal dung and other organic matter such as kitchen waste. Those working in the area are sometimes nicknamed the "Dung busters"! This waste is converted into methane, which is then used as an energy source for cooking and lighting, and a highly concentrated slurry that can be used for fertilizer.

This project is one we are very enthusiastic about as not only does it produce energy products, but it also provides health improvements including sanitation, through the installation of a toilet, and a reduction in respiratory problems, as all the installations are made in houses which previously used firewood for cooking. The kitchens were therefore very smoky and people suffered greatly from respiratory complaints. So by stopping forest degradation by replacing the energy with a renewable source, we are also able to help poor rural families in the developing world improve their living environment.

The final benefit is from the slurry by-product. This enables the householders to produce more crops on their plot, both by increasing crop yields and introducing new varieties, which provide a new source of income.

This truly is an all round development programme with economic, health, sanitation and environmental benefits and we are proud to be working with BSP Nepal to take this technology to the remote areas of Nepal.

Heritage conservation

Our second area of focus is heritage conservation We are very conscious that tourism can bring economic benefits to areas of Nepal and great joy to those who visit. However, if it is not managed responsibly it can also bring some harmful influences and impacts to local cultures. Our Heritage preservation work is focused on ensuring maximum benefit and minimum impact of tourism. This also overlaps with our Environmental Policy which advocates the promotion of areas off the beaten track, and the use of authentically built and operated facilities.

We have worked with local NGO Kathmandu Educational Programme (KEEP) to develop a training module for Heritage Preservation. This is being launched to the local populations of the Tamang Heritage Trail as this update is being written.

Our Director of Operations Siling Ghale, and Sirdar Yam Magar are working alongside other trainers from KEEP, with support from the Langtang National Parks office of WWF and the Nepal Tourism Board, to launch this fabulous new training which includes waste management and hospitality modules alongside the heritage preservation. We are very proud to have initiated this training, which we believe will help the Himalayan cultures preserve their heritage whilst sharing it with visitors, and hope to operate it in many more areas. As part of the Heritage programme we shall be promoting ancient Himalayan festivals, so look out on the departures list for Festival Specials.

Charitable projects - blood donation

Giving blood - saving lives!

Our final commitment to charity is something which enables us to literally save lives. We have set up a blood donation campaign in Nepal which donates all the credits to children suffering with blood disorders. The blood donated is allocated to CWIN (Child Workers in Nepal), a charity which then manages the allocation of blood to children in need. A small amount of time (and perhaps some slight discomfort!) allows us to give the gift of life to the young children of Nepal.

We are introducing this worthwhile activity to our suppliers, employees, and all those operating in the industry here. We also recruit new donors through other networks and in fact had many young monks attending our last event. We operate an event now twice a year, and we hope to recruit more members every time.

We also hope our customers will be inspired by these actions, and perhaps join their national blood donation campaign when they go home. They say that at Christmas time the fun is in the giving; well, I had the best Christmas ever the first time I gave blood!

A BIG Thank You to everyone who supports this campaign.